Ladder attachment



CHARLES MELLEM PERRIER, 0F BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LADDER ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1922.

Application filed October 19, 1920. Serial No. 417,910.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLns Mnnnnn Pniuunn, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Brockton, in the county of Plymouth, in the State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Ladder Attachment, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of ladd'cr attachments adaptedtoprevent slipping of the ladder when placed against a wall or othersupport.

The general objects of the invention are to provide an attachment ofthis character which is readily applied to all makes of ladders withoutmaterially changing the con-- struction of the-same, which is strong yetsimple, and which has a hook held locked-or secured in place when inextended position.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding,however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformitywith the showing in the drawing, but may be changed and modified so longas such changes and modifications mark no material departure from thesalient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation of a fragment of a ladder with anembodiment of the invention in place, showing the hook portion extendedand caught over a cornice, the latter being indicated in dotted; lines.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of the same, showing the hook inretracted position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the showing of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary View partly in section, showing thelocking means for the hook.

The numeral 5 designates the side of a ladder, to which a plate 6 issecured. There should be one of these plates on each leg of the laddernear the upper end thereof. Each plate constitutes a base for the ladderattachment, which forms the subject of the present invention. The plate6 has an integral expansion or prolongation 7 which is bent over andreturned parallel to the plate, though slightly spaced therefrom. A hook8 is mounted between the extension 7' and This hook has int-urned endsin the form of a C and is adapted to be locked to-the positionshown in Fig. 1 by means of spring catch 10. One end of the spring 10 is made fastto the plate by a rivet or the like 11. The other end of the springisbent inwardly, as indicated at 1.2, and enters through a slot 1.3 in theplate 6, intoa recesslt cut in the legof the ladder". The spring nearthebentportion l2'curves outwardly away from the ladder as seen in Figs; 3 and 4. When the hook 8 is moved from the position of Fig. 2, tothatr of Fig. l, itfirst depresses the free endof thespring' catch l0andthereaftersnaps in place below said end, whereupon the spring will raiseand will prevent thehook from swinging along the plate 6. The lockingposition is best shown in Fig. 4.

The hook 8 is especially designed to engage over roof projections,cornices, gutters or the like, in the manner shown in Fig. 1; thus theladder will not slip even though the ground support be a dangerous one.In applying the ladder to a building, the lower free end ofthe hook-likemember 8, which projects beyond the ladder leg as shown in F i'g. 2, isengaged beneath the cornice or spout 15 of the building, and as theladder is shoved upwardly, it will cause the hook-like member to tiltupon its pivot 9, forcing the lower free end of the member 8 inwardly,while the upper free end is forced outwardly and downwardly upon theupper edge of the cornice 15. Thus it will be seen that. the hook 8 isautomatically operated when the ladder is applied to the building. Whenremoving the ladder, theladder itself is raised sufiiciently upward andoutwardly to release the hook 8 from its engagement with the cornice 15.

The present ladder attachment occupies an extremely small space becauseof the fact that the plate 6 with its extension 7, spring 10 and thehook 8, are all formed of flat metal. The attachment adds very little tothe width of the leg 5, as is seen in Fig. 3, and thus it is not in theway of such other, attachments as it may be desired to employ. Theconstruction, while of light weight and compact is easily madesufficiently strong to bear the heaviest load for which the lat isdesigned.

What is claimed is:

1.. The combination with a ladder leg and a guard secured thereto forautomatically gripping a fixed part of a building, said guard comprisinga plate, ahoolz-like member pivoted to the plate having inturned endswith one end normally projecting beyond the ladder leg, whereby as theladder i applied to a building st id projecting end it moved inwardlywhile the opposite end i forced outwardly automatically gripping i fixedpart of the building, and catch engageable with said member and lockingthe same against retraction.

2. The combination with a ladder leg and a guard secured thereto forautomatically gripping a lined part of a building when the ladder isapplied, said guard comprising a fiat plate secured at one end of theladder leg upon the outer face thereof, said plate having an integralexpansion spaced from and bent into parallelism therewith, a securingelement mounted between the 6X tension and plate and holding the formerin position, a hook-like member mounted be tween the extension and plateand held by the securing element, one end of said hooklilte membernormally projecting beyone the ladder leg and adapted to be engaged by afixed part of the building and moved inardly between the plate and itsextension as the ladder is positioned, the other end of said elementbeing simultaneously moved outwardly into gripping relation to saidlined part, and a spring catch engageable with said hook-like member oncompletion of said movement to lock the same against retraction.

The combination with a ladder leg and a guard secured thereto forautomatically ripping a fixed part of the building when too ladder isapplied, said guard comprising a flat plate secured at one end of theladder, a hook-like member mounted on a pivot on the plate, said memberbeing C-shaped, one of the ends of said hook-like member beii adapted tobe always projected beyond the plate and the ladder leg, and a springcatch adapted to engage the edge oi? the hook-like member near one endand hold the ladder with the other end extended, the lower tree end ofthe hook-like member being adapted to be operated when the ladle; isapplied to a building so as to force the upper free end of the memberinto eugagement with the fixed support.

in testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own l have hereto affixedmy signature.

JHAS. ll iELLElil PERRIER.

